Wednesday, February 22, 2017

February started with the Winston-Salem March for Babies Kick Off bright and early on 2/1. Normally it would just be another work thing for me, but I roped the kids into taking part. They got up and both spoke during the Kick Off. It was a hit. Some of their nurses and doctors were there so it's always nice for them to see them doing well. The kids did a great job! They enjoyed being tardy to school! ha!

That same day, Lindy started a new art class. My friend Jess told me about it because her daughter did it last fall. Lindy loves to draw. She does a ton of it. There are pictures all over our house. In an effort to expand their horizons, I signed her up for art and Will up for piano lessons. Mimo gets to do the shuffling of kids on Wednesday afternoons and we are thankful she can help us out. She gets Lindy to art and then gets back home for piano lessons. I have been picking Lindy up from art. She is having a good time. There are four kids total in there which is great for Lindy. She can get extra help if she needs it. The teacher is really nice and sweet and making it work for her!

Both kids had friends over to play on Friday, Feb. 3rd. They all had fun but the girls played so quietly in Lindy's room that it would have been easy to forget they were here! I used to just let one invite a friend over at a time but I'm not doing that anymore. What was I thinking. I always had the one that didn't have a friend over staring at me. This time they were both entertained and I got some stuff done!

Saturday, February 4th was a big day for Drew and Lindy. They attended their first Father-Daughter Dance. I had found Lindy the cutest dress to wear and we even got her hair done! Our friends, Jess and Larkin, picked us up and we went to get the girls hair done. They both acted miserable but the little smile that crept on Lindy's face when she saw her hair was so cute. Her hair turned out so cute! We headed home, she got something to eat and then she got ready. We took pictures and off they went to the dance! There was a slight mishap since I forgot to give Drew the tickets and they seriously almost didn't let him in, even though his name was on the list, but they finally did. Drew said Lindy was excited - a little too excited. He said they started dancing as soon as they got there and when Jump Around came on - well she jumped around too much. She wore herself out. She got super tired and told Drew her heart was beating really fast. They ended up resting for a pretty long time after that. They did a few other things - got some cute (and expensive) pictures. They talked to friends, danced some more, and then they ended up leaving a bit early. They learned a valuable lesson - to pace themselves when dancing. As Drew said, "it's a marathon, not a sprint."

While Drew and Lindy were out partying, Jess and I took our boy children to a bounce house in Greensboro. Ollie is almost 3, but Will didn't care. He zoomed around the place, having a blast. It was a fun evening for all.

Sunday evening was the Super Bowl and we sure are glad we stayed awake for that! What a game! Ever since we lived in Vermont, I've been a Patriots fan so I was happy!

The next week was pretty normal and boring. Aiden had a vet appointment for his yearly exam on 2/8. Lindy had a cold most of the week. Will got it Thursday afternoon. We went to Lynn's for dinner on Friday 2/10. I knew Will didn't feel great but he ended up throwing up once over there, once in the middle of the night and once Saturday morning. It was strange. He took it easy Saturday and was feeling better the next day. I headed to Raleigh on Saturday afternoon to go to a birthday party. My bestie from high school turned 40 back in January. Fourteen days before me. She had a party planned in January but it was the weekend we got all the snow so it was postponed. I rode with another high school friend and we stayed at another high school friend's house so that was fun to see my old gang. We came home around lunchtime Sunday but by then I wasn't feeling well.

I actually missed the play we had tickets to on Sunday afternoon. Drew, Lindy, Will and Ms. Martha went to see The Miracle Worker, the story about Helen Keller. They said it was really good. Lindy loves Helen Keller but she didn't love the play. Drew didn't think she could see a lot and there were loud sounds. They went to the lobby for awhile and then ended up sitting in the back for the end of the play. I hate I missed it.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

We got home from NYC on January 17th. We divided and conquered and both went grocery shopping. That evening we went to tail wagging tutors at the library. They have a therapy dog that kids can read to. I signed both kids up but only Lindy really cared or enjoyed it. The dog was super cute and sweet.

My birthday was on Wednesday, January 18th. It was a usual day at work followed by dinner out with my family, and some yummy cake made by Drew. The actual day wasn't too exciting actually.

That Friday night we went to the Bryants' for dinner and to hang out. The kids enjoyed playing and it's always nice to see friends. Saturday Lindy and I had a girls day. We did a couple errands first but then we headed to the new Humane Society that opened the end of 2016. We spent an hour going from the dog to cat rooms and back again. They had puppies out that she got to play with but dang, they had some claws on them. They had some toys they were able to play with which helped. They were cute but we were only there to check out the new place. Lindy loved getting to spend time there.

That weekend we set up one of Lindy's Xmas presents - a fish tank. We got it all ready on Saturday and then we got the fish on Sunday. She got two guppies and named them Wake and Forest. We managed to keep them alive for almost a month and then Forest has since gone to fishy heaven. Wake is still swimming though. He's hanging on!

The kids had Monday, January 23rd off of school for a teacher workday. Lynn came over to watch the kids. They had a lazy rainy day in their pjs. I was jealous! They didn't have a full week in January until the last week of the month. It wasn't a tough January for the kids.

We had a fun last weekend in January. My parents came over on January 27th - which happened to be my dad's birthday! We went out for a yummy dinner and then we came back to our house for birthday dessert - a key lime pie. My dad wasn't feeling his best from a cold but we still managed to celebrate.

Saturday we went to visit Anna and Brian in Martinsville, VA. They moved there last summer and we hadn't been to visit yet. We met them at the Virginia Museum of Natural History for a special ice age exhibit they had going on. We had a fun time in the museum and then we went for lunch. We finished the afternoon checking out their place and playing Mario Kart. It's barely an hour away so it was a great day trip.

Monday, February 20, 2017

We left off with the big snowstorm. The kids were out Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Tuesday the kids got to go to the office with me for a little while and Wednesday they stayed at Lynn's house. It was pretty and all but we were glad to see it go and life get back to normal.

Tuesday afternoon Will did a trial piano lesson. He got a keyboard for his birthday and it was finally time to investigate lessons. We enjoyed it and we did sign him up for weekly lessons. Will also had a dentist appointment on the Wednesday they were out. He got sealants put on his back teeth and got a panoramic x-ray. He also got a referral to an orthodontist. What what? I knew Lindy would, but I didn't expect Will too. The x-ray showed his upper canines are totally blocked and he has serious crowding. It doesn't look like it should be that way with the space between his front teeth but what do we know. He goes for a consultation on March 24th and I'm going to check out another place in town too before we make any decisions.

The big fun in January was my birthday! I turned the big 40 this year and it called for big fun! I got the kids from school on Friday, Jan. 13th and brought them home. Grandbob and Suzette came to pick them up and take them to Charlotte and then Drew and I were off to NYC! A big apple trip for your 40th isn't too bad! It's only made better when your bestie lives there! We flew in and out of Raleigh so we didn't get to Chris and Callie's apartment till almost midnight.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early and at the One World Observatory by 9am. If you ever go, do it first thing in the morning. It was not crowded at all and we had no lines. We did have a fantastic view though. So cool to be 102 flights up and look out at Manhattan. We went to the 911 Memorial before heading indoors for some shopping. We eventually split up and Chris and Drew headed to a Villanova (Chris and Callie's alma mater) basketball game at Madison Square Garden. Callie and I hit the big shopping streets of NYC. Not really. We did some shopping but the number one thing we were looking for were sunglasses for me. That is all I wanted for my birthday was a pair of nice sunglasses. We did eventually find some so I was a happy camper. We met up with the guys at some point and Drew decided to go to the Natural History Museum. He took off across Central Park in a snowstorm that had come up on Saturday afternoon. Thankfully he found his way there and back. Callie and I looked around a bit more that afternoon too. We all met back to get ready for dinner. We met up with a friend of Drew's from college, Ross, and his wife Ewelina. We had a delicious dinner and huge desserts and a lot of fun catching up.

Sunday morning we headed to a Catholic mass with Chris and Callie in a big, beautiful, Catholic church. Afterwards we wandered a bit and then went to the Plaza for our high tea at the Palm Court. Sunday was definitely my favorite day. Drew and I aren't normally tea drinkers but we wanted to experience the Palm Court. It turned out to be so cool. We both ended up loving our tea and we loved all the finger food sandwiches they brought. It was more food than we could eat. It was just a nice, relaxing way to spend the afternoon. We wandered Central Park before chilling at Callie and Chris' apartment for a bit. We got ready and went out again that night for a Broadway show. We checked out Times Square and did some souvenir shopping for the kids and then went to our show, Kinky Boots. It was fantastic. Even Callie, who doesn't normally like shows, said she kind of liked it! It was just high entertainment and so fun. We found a spot to grab a bite to eat and watch the rest of the football game (we saw the Chiefs lose. Boo).

Monday we were lazy in the morning and eventually headed to the Met. Chris left to go get their kids from Callie's mom in CT. We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Met and then Callie and I met Chris and grabbed the kids. They gave me the highlights tour and then we took the kids and headed home. Drew stayed at the Met ALL DAY. Man he was there a long time! Our last site seeing event for our trip was the Empire State Building at night. Drew had never been and I had gone when I was little. Chris and Callie's kids had never been either and no one had been at night. Besides it being cold, it was so cool. We went to the 86th and 102nd (could have skipped that one) but it was just really neat to see all the NYC lights. You could definitely tell where Times Square was! We ate one last dinner out that night before hitting the sack pretty early.

Drew and I flew out at 8am that morning so were up and gone by 5:30am. It was a great trip. We had racked our brains on where we could go but NYC is always fun so I'm glad we chose there. We are so thankful for the hospitality Callie and Chris showed us while we were there. It's more like we visited Callie and Chris and they just happen to live in NYC. You don't really feel like a tourist when you are with people who live there. And you don't have to figure out transportation because they know how to get everywhere. Not a bad way to ring in the big birthday!